THE CHALLENGE:
As the studio’s scope and output grew, the team itself didn’t. We needed to scale without simply adding people.
- Visibility
Teams needed to see what was planned, in production and complete without constant status updates - Accountability
Ownership and priorities needed to be clear. When everything is a priority, nothing is - Timeline Management
Growing production volume required better forecasting of internal capacity, external support and deadlines. - Creative Governance
More brands and channels required consistent creative direction and standards.
THE APPROACH:
- Centralize Production
I built a centralized planning system that gave Sales, Brand and Creative one view of shoots, deliverables and status, then implemented Wrike for intake, timelines, prioritization and resource planning. - Establish Creative Governance
I took ownership of ecommerce and social creative direction, creating a clear decision point and consistent creative voice across brands. - Plan Around Capacity
With visibility into upcoming demand, we could group production, plan further ahead and make more strategic decisions about what to produce internally versus externally. - Build In-House Capability
As demand shifted toward video, motion and commercial production, I evolved our workflows and resources to bring significantly more work in-house while raising the creative bar.
THE RESULTS:
The studio became significantly more efficient—and more strategic.
- +40% Output
- –32% Production Costs
- 2,000+ Assets Annually
- 3× More In-House Shoots
- +90% Creative Variants for Ads
- 3 Years Under Budget
The studio absorbed more brands, more video, more shoots and more complex production—without increasing team size.
What began as a studio workflow improvement ultimately changed how multiple departments manage creative work, most recently eliminating a weekly, hour-long status meeting for 20+ people across four departments and replacing it with a biweekly email update. (The dream!)